My dream is to lead Fulham in Premier League
CAPTAIN CAIRNEY’S FINAL PUSH FOR GLORY
TOM CAIRNEY was at home wondering what to have for dinner when he saw on TV that Fulham had turned down an offer for his services from West Ham.
Cairney says: ‘ You get texts off your family, off your mates. “What’s happening?” I replied, “You know about as much as me”. It says £18million turned down. So... great. Move on. I’ll have chicken kievs.’
Those on television explained his club were not interested in losing their captain amid their push for the Premier League. Fair enough, Cairney thought, and it was the right call, too.
Fulham have now gone 23 league games without losing for the first time in their history. Of the top 10 players for passes in the Championship, four are from Craven Cottage, with none completing more than midfielder Cairney.
As far as Fulham are concerned, Barcelona can keep their tiki-taka. According to Cairney, they are thriving with their own brand of precise, passing football under Serbian boss Slavisa Jokanovic.
‘ I’ll leave the tiki- taka to Barcelona,’ 27-year-old Cairney says. ‘ There’s only one team who can do tiki-taka. But we are a footballing side. We’re all footballers, throughout the back four, the midfield. Even the keeper has to play it out.
‘ We play Premier League football in the Championship. It’s rare to see teams play the way we do. Everything is on the floor, dominating possession, creating a lot of chances.
‘I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to win matches. Cardiff win matches differently to the way we win, and Wolves are different as well. But we’re heading in the right direction.
‘My dream is to take this team up and be a captain in the Premier League. If I can do that, it would be one hell of an achievement.’
Cairney travels to Birmingham for tomorrow’s final game. His team are a point behind second-placed Cardiff — who play Reading at home — but have a better goal difference.
They may need to battle through the play-offs to make the top flight, but Fulham are not short of characters. A few would need no introduction in the Premier League.
There is striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has scored 12 goals since joining from Newcastle on loan in January.
‘A revelation, a bit scary at times, those crazy eyes, he’s intense. . . but he’s passionate,’ says Cairney.
Then there is Ryan Sessegnon, the left back-cum-winger who is Championship Player of the Season at the age of 17.
Cairney was a teenager when he made his debut in the Premier League for Hull against Wolves in 2010 — his mum still has the shirt hanging in a frame. So is he mentoring Sessegnon now? ‘I don’t think he needs an arm around him,’ the Scotland international explains. ‘He has the same mindset every day, no matter if he scored a hat-trick or not.
‘He’s the same day in, day out. He must hear so many rumours. He’s just left school. He’s done his GCSEs. I’ve seen things written about him going to the World Cup but he doesn’t mention it. He has been sensational this season.’
There is a feelgood factor at Fulham and this is Jokanovic’s doing. He comes across as intense on the TV screen but that is a misconception.
‘He’s got a bit of a fear factor about him,’ Cairney says. ‘As for dressing- downs or going crazy, that’s not his style.
‘He’s calm, even when things are going wrong. He tells us to stay composed and stick to the way we play because then we have the best chance of winning. He will manage in the Premier League.’
Fulham hope that will be with them. They have been out of the top flight since 2014 and know they risk losing players if they do not escape the Championship. That includes Cairney.
Missing out on that move in January is not something Cairney regrets, however.
The way Fulham are playing, he is confident his dream of becoming a Premier League captain is about to come true.